Portable Electronic Medical Record Card and Associated Systems and Methods

ABSTRACT

A portable electronic medical record card and method for wirelessly communicating electronic medical record information stored on the portable electronic medical record card to a plurality of different information technology systems is provided. The portable electronic medical record card comprises a processor in communication with a memory and biometric and wireless communication modules. The biometric module is configured to receive a biometric input from a user, authenticate the user&#39;s identity based on the received biometric input from the user, and authorize the processor to establish wireless communication between the portable electronic medical record card and each of the plurality of different information technology systems based on a result of the authentication. The wireless communication module wirelessly communicates the electronic medical record information stored in the memory to each of the plurality of different information technology systems when the user&#39;s identity is authenticated, and receives updated electronic medical information from each of the plurality of different information technology systems.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of electronicmedical recordkeeping systems. More specifically, the present disclosurerelates to a portable electronic medical record card and associatedsystems and methods.

Related Art

In the electronic medical record field, increasingly sophisticatedsystems are being developed to readily access patient medical records.Such systems include, but are not limited to, a smart/proximity cardhaving at least one of an integrated circuit and electrically erasableand programmable memory. These systems can require an administrator(e.g., a medical professional) to write data to the programmable memoryof the smart/proximity card via an interface (e.g, a computer) incommunication with the system. As such, these systems aredisadvantageous because they are static, limited in operating range,lack data processing power, suffer from reduced communication speeds andstorage capabilities, and are susceptible to human error during the datawriting process.

Therefore, there is currently significant interest in the electronicmedical record field in developing a portable electronic medical recordcard that can securely communicate electronic medical record informationstored therein with a plurality of information technology (computing)systems. Further, it would be beneficial to develop a portableelectronic medical record card that can automatically update theelectronic medical record information stored on the portable electronicmedical record card in response to an interaction with a medicalprofessional and/or a visit to a medical facility (e.g., a physician'soffice and/or hospital) by communicating with an information technologysystem thereof.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a portable electronic medical recordcard and associated systems and methods. The portable electronic medicalrecord card includes at least one hardware processor configured toestablish wireless communication between the portable electronic medicalrecord card and the plurality of disparate information technologysystems. The hardware processor is also configured to update theelectronic medical record information stored on the portable electronicmedical record card in response to an operation performed by at leastone of the plurality of information technology systems on electronicmedical record information wirelessly communicated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing features of the present disclosure will be apparent fromthe following Detailed Description of the Invention, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the portable electronic medical recordcard of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating hardware and software components of theportable electronic medical record card of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a plurality of communication links 49a-49 f of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing steps for establishingcommunication between the portable electronic medical record card of thepresent disclosure and the plurality of information technology systems;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating Step 52 of FIG. 4 in greater detail;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating Step 54 of FIG. 4 in greater detail;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating Step 56 of FIG. 4 in greater detail;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating Step 58 of FIG. 4 in greater detail;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating Step 60 of FIG. 4 in greater detail;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating Step 62 of FIG. 4 in greater detail;and

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating steps for activating the portableelectronic medical record card of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates to a portable electronic medical recordcard and method for wirelessly communicating electronic medical recordinformation stored on the portable electronic medical record card to aplurality of information technology systems, as described in detailbelow in connection with FIGS. 1-11. It should be understood that theelectronic medical record card can also receive electronic medicalrecord information from the plurality of information technology systems.It should also be understood that the direct reception of the electronicmedical record information by the portable electronic medical recordcard can be restricted.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a portable electronic medical record card 1 ofthe present disclosure. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the portableelectronic medical record card 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustratinghardware and software components of the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 of FIG. 1. A detailed discussion of the card 1 is providedbelow, with reference to both FIGS. 1 and 2 together.

The portable electronic medical record card 1 could be embodied as acentral processing unit (e.g. a hardware processor 10) coupled tovarious hardware and software components. The hardware processor 10 caninclude: a controller 12 having a software module 13; a biometric module14; an encryption module 16; a connectivity indicator 18; acommunication module 20 having a Wi-Fi communication module 22 a, aBluetooth™ communication module 22 b, a radio frequency communicationmodule 22 c and a near field communication (NFC) module 22 d; a memory24; and a power module 26.

The hardware processor 10 could be an Espressif ESP32 processor havingat least 2 GB of memory 24 (e.g., flash memory) such that data can beread from and written to the portable electronic medical record card 1.The data can be stored in Javascript Object Notation (JSON) format orExtensible Markup Language (XML) format such that the data is ready forHL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard basedcommunication among various entities and/or parties including, but notlimited to, the portable electronic medical record card 1 and theplurality of information technology systems (e.g., a physician's officecomputing server, a hospital data management system, a cloud-basedserver system and the Portable Electronic Medical Record Solutions(PEMRS) cloud-based platform). The hardware processor 10 is configuredto support the encryption and decryption of stored electronic medicalrecord information via the encryption module 16 having cryptographichardware acceleration including, but not limited to, Secure HashAlgorithms (SHA), Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA), Advanced EncryptionStandard (AES) and a Random Number Generator (RNG). It is noted that thestored electronic medical record information comprises the incomplete orcomplete past and present medical history of a patient including, butnot limited to, prescription history, past surgical history, vaccinationhistory, familial and childhood disease history, allergies, sexualhistory, drug use, etc.

The hardware processor 10 is also configured to support variouscommunication standards and protocols via the communication module 20.For example, the communication module 20 is configured to wirelesslycommunicate electronic medical record information between the portableelectronic medical record card 1 and the plurality of informationtechnology systems through the Wi-Fi communication module 22 a, theBluetooth™ communication module 22 b, the radio frequency communicationmodule 22 c and the NFC module 22 d. It should be understood that theelectronic medical record card 1 can also receive electronic medicalrecord information from the plurality of information technology systems.It should also be understood that the direct reception of the electronicmedical record information by the portable electronic medical recordcard 1 can be restricted. For example, the electronic medical recordinformation can be transmitted to an intermediate location (e.g., aPortable Electronic Medical Record Solutions (PEMRS) cloud-based server7 as shown in FIG. 3) such that the PEMRS cloud-based server 7 can applyappropriate security rules and/or checks before transmitting theelectronic medical record information to the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1. The communication module 20 is also configured to supportnetwork communication protocols including, but not limited to, TCP/IPand HTTP/HTTPS. The NFC module 22 d (e.g., an NFC antenna) is configuredto be read by a third party NFC reader (e.g., a medical provider NFCreader) and as such establish a communication link between the portableelectronic medical record card 1 and an information technology system towhich the third party NFC reader belongs.

The connectivity indicators 18 could comprise a plurality of indicators(e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)) corresponding to a specific entityand/or information technology system to indicate when a communicationlink between the portable electronic medical record card 1 and thespecific entity and/or information technology system is established. Forexample, an LED indicator could respectively be illuminated orange whenthe communication link is processing, green when the communication linkis established, or red when a problem in the communication link isencountered.

The controller 12 could be a Pycom™ GPy controller configured to run anoperating system of the portable electronic medical record card 1. Thesoftware module 13 may comprise the logical data model (card filesystem) and an applet (i.e., a utility program) corresponding to anexternal system and/or application that can communicate with theportable electronic medical record card 1. The biometric module 14 canbe a Pycom™ Pyscan biometric scanner. Specifically, the biometric module14 could be a fingerprint scanner configured to authenticate an identityof a user of the portable electronic medical record card 1 and grantauthorization to establish a communication link between the portableelectronic medical record card 1 and an entity and/or informationtechnology system. The biometric module 14 could comprise the NFC module22 d (e.g., an NFC antenna). The power module 26 could be a rechargeablelithium ion battery. The power module 26 could have ON/OFF capabilitysuch that the portable electronic medical record card 1 could be poweredON when necessary and turned OFF when not in use to prolong batterylife.

As shown in FIG. 1, several of the above described components of theportable electronic medical record card 1 can be visible on a surfacethereof including, but not limited to, the battery life indicator 9, thehardware processor 12, the biometric module 14, the connectivityindicator 18, and a power ON/OFF button 40. The power ON/OFF button 40is configured to power the portable electronic medical record card 1 ONor to turn the portable electronic medical record card 1 OFF when not inuse to prolong battery life. The portable electronic medical record card1 can transition from ON to a Sleep Mode and from the Sleep Mode to OFF.The battery life indicator 9 displays an estimated remaining batterylife of the portable electronic medical record card 1. The battery lifeindicator 9 can display the estimated remaining battery life as agraphic image and/or a percentage. As discussed, the biometric module 14could be a fingerprint scanner configured to authenticate an identity ofa user of the portable electronic medical record card 1 and grantauthorization to establish a communication link between the portableelectronic medical record card 1 and an entity and/or informationtechnology system. The connectivity indicators 18 comprise a pluralityof LED indicators including a Wi-Fi connectivity indicator, a PEMRScloud server connectivity indicator, and a hospital server connectivityindicator, for example. Each of the connectivity indicators 18 mayindicate that a communication link has been established between theportable electronic medical record card 1 and the entity and/orinformation technology system when the respective indicator 18 isilluminated. In addition, the Wi-Fi indicator 18 may also be configuredto turn the Wi-Fi communication module 22 a of the portable electronicmedical record card 1 ON or to turn the Wi-Fi communication module 22 aOFF when pressed by a user. The Wi-Fi communication module 22 a mayunilaterally enter a sleep mode when not in use such that the Wi-Fiindicator 18 may cease to be illuminated.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a plurality of communication links 49a-49 f of the present disclosure. Components of the communication linksinclude, but are not limited to, the portable electronic medical recordcard 1, a remote device 2, a home Wi-Fi network 3, the internet 4, a NFCreader 5, a hospital Wi-Fi network 6, a Portable Electronic MedicalRecord Solutions (PEMRS) cloud-based server 7 and a hospital server 8.It should be noted that the term “hospital” is not limited to ahospital, but can also include a medical provider generally (e.g., anurgent care center, a physician's office, an ambulance, a triage center,an emergency medical technician as part of an emergency response, etc.).The portable electronic medical record card 1 can wirelessly communicateelectronic medical record information stored on the portable electronicmedical record card 1 to the plurality of information technology systemsshown in FIG. 3. It should be understood that the electronic medicalrecord card 1 can also receive electronic medical record informationfrom the plurality of information technology systems. It should also beunderstood that the direct reception of the electronic medical recordinformation by the portable electronic medical record card 1 can berestricted. For example, the electronic medical record information canbe transmitted to the PEMRS cloud-based server 7 such that the PEMRScloud-based server 7 can apply appropriate security rules and/or checksbefore transmitting the electronic medical record information to theportable electronic medical record card 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing steps 50 carried out bythe portable electronic medical record card 1 of the present disclosureto establish the communication links 49 a-49 f with the plurality ofinformation technology systems 3-8. In step 52, the portable electronicmedical record card 1 establishes a communication link 52 a with theremote device 2, which is discussed in greater detail in connection withFIG. 5. The remote device 2 may include, but is not limited to, acellular telephone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), etc.In step 54, the portable electronic medical record card 1 establishes acommunication link with a home Wi-Fi network 3 of a user of the portableelectronic medical record card 1, which is discussed in greater detailin connection with FIG. 6. In step 56, the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 establishes a communication link 49 e with at least one ofthe plurality of PEMRS cloud based servers 7 which can be a part of aPEMRS information technology system, via the Internet 4, which isdiscussed in greater detail in connection with FIG. 7. The method thenproceeds to step 58 wherein the portable electronic medical record card1 establishes a communication link 49 c with a hospital Wi-Fi network 6via the hospital NFC reader 5, which is discussed in greater detail inconnection with FIG. 8. In step 60, the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 establishes a communication link 49 d with at least one ofa plurality of hospital servers 8 of a hospital information technologysystem via the hospital Wi-Fi network 6, which is discussed in greaterdetail in connection with FIG. 9. In step 62, the portable electronicmedical record card 1 authorizes a communication link 49 f between thePEMRS information technology system (e.g., the PEMRS cloud-based server7) and the hospital information technology system (e.g., the hospitalservers 8) via the Internet 4 such that user's electronic medical recordinformation can be exchanged between at least one of the plurality ofPEMRS cloud servers 7 and at least one of the plurality of hospitalservers 8. It should be noted that one or more of steps 56, 58 and 60must be established to proceed to step 62. It should also be understoodthat the above-described communication links need not be established atthe same time or in the forgoing order. For example, communication links49 b and 49 c can be established independent of one another.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating Step 52 of FIG. 4 in greater detail.Beginning in step 70, a user powers on the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 by pressing the power ON/OFF button 40 (see FIG. 1).Particularly, as shown in FIG. 1, the portable electronic medical recordcard 1 does not include a keypad or mechanism to input information(e.g., a user name, a Wi-Fi network name, a Wi-Fi password, medicalrecord information, etc.) that can be used by, or stored in the memory24 of the portable electronic medical record card 1. In step 72 the usercontacts the portable electronic medical record card 1 to the remotedevice 2 to establish a communication link between the portableelectronic medical record card 1 and the remote device 2 via NFC. Assuch, the portable electronic medical record card 1 is linked to theremote device 2 which the user can use to input information to be storedin the memory 24 of the portable electronic medical record card 1 (e.g.,via an application of the remote device 2). In step 74, the portableelectronic medical record card 1 determines if a communication link hasbeen successfully established with the remote device 2. If thecommunication link is not successfully established then the processreturns to step 72 and the user may contact the portable electronicmedical record card 1 to the remote device 2 again to re-attempt toestablish a communication link between the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 and the remote device 2. If the communication link issuccessful, then the process proceeds to step 54 to establish acommunication link between the portable electronic medical record card 1and the home Wi-Fi network 3.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating Step 54 of FIG. 4 in greater detail.Beginning in step 80, the user can scan his/her finger on the biometricmodule 14 (see FIG. 1). In step 82, the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 determines whether an identification of the user isauthenticated. Specifically, the biometric module 14 captures thescanned fingerprint image, compresses the image with a Wavelet ScalarQuantization (WSQ) algorithm, transforms the image into a standardtemplate (e.g., ISO 1974-2 or ANSI 378), compares the captured scannedfingerprint with a verified fingerprint of the user stored on theportable electronic medical record card 1, and returns a pass or failauthentication status based on the comparison. If the biometric module14 does not authenticate the identity of the user, then the processreturns to step 80 and the user can scan his/her finger on the biometricmodule 14 again.

If the identity of the user is authenticated, then the process proceedsto step 84 where it is determined whether the home Wi-Fi network 3 logininformation (e.g., network name and network password) is stored on theportable electronic medical record card 1. If the home Wi-Fi network 3login information is not stored on the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 then the process proceeds to step 86 where the portableelectronic medical record card 1 receives the home Wi-Fi network 3 logininformation from the remote device 2, and stores the home Wi-Fi network3 information on the portable electronic medical record card 1. If thehome Wi-Fi network 3 login information is stored on the portableelectronic medical record card 1 the process proceeds to step 88 wherethe process establishes a communication link between the portableelectronic medical record card 1 and the home Wi-Fi network 3 by logginginto the home Wi-Fi network 3. Once the communication link isestablished between the portable electronic medical record card 1 andthe home Wi-Fi network 3, the process 54 proceeds to step 56 toestablish the communication link 49 e between the portable electronicmedical record card 1 and the PEMRS cloud-based server 7.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating Step 56 of FIG. 4 in greater detail.Beginning in step 90, the user may open the PEMRS application on theremote device 2, which can be used to backup or restore electronicmedical record information from the portable electronic medical recordcard 1 to the PEMRS cloud-based server 7. In addition, the PEMRSapplication can perform create, read, update, delete (CRUD) operationson the electronic medical record information stored on the portableelectronic medical record card 1. Specifically, middleware software isused to perform the CRUD operations wherein access to the memory 24 isvia the middleware software operating on the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1.

In step 92, the portable electronic medical record card 1 requestsbiometric authorization to establish the communication link 49 e betweenthe portable electronic medical record card 1 and the PEMRS cloud-basedserver 7. In step 94, the user scans his/her finger on the biometricmodule 14 (see FIG. 1) to authenticate his/her identity and therebygrant authorization to establish the communication link 49 e between theportable electronic medical record card 1 and the PEMRS cloud-basedserver 7. As detailed above, the biometric module 14 captures andcompares the scanned fingerprint image with a verified fingerprint ofthe user stored on the portable electronic medical record card 1 andreturns a pass or fail authentication status based on the comparison. Instep 96, the process 56 determines whether the identification of theuser is authenticated. If the biometric module 14 does not authenticatethe identity of the user, then the process returns to step 94 and theuser can scan his/her finger on the biometric module 14 again. If theuser's identity is authenticated then the process proceeds to step 98.

In step 98, data including, but not limited to, electronic medicalrecord information is exchanged between the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 and the PEMRS cloud-based server 7. The portableelectronic medical record card 1 has a unique identifier and token(i.e., password) and the PEMRS cloud-based server 7 has a UniformResource Locator (URL). The combination of the unique identifier andtoken, and the URL allows for both the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 and the PEMRS cloud-based server 7 to be authenticatedthus creating a secure data exchange between the portable electronicmedical record card 1 and the PEMRS cloud-based server 7. The portableelectronic medical record card 1 and the PEMRS cloud-based server 7 cancommunicate via HTTPS and HTTP. If the user is in the vicinity of thehospital Wi-Fi network 6, the process proceeds to step 58 to establish acommunication link between the portable electronic medical record card 1and the hospital Wi-Fi network 6.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating Step 58 of FIG. 4 in greater detail.Beginning in step 100, a user may place the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 in close proximity to or in contact with a hospital NFCreader 5 to allow the hospital NFC reader 5 to identify the portableelectronic medical record card 1. In step 102, the portable electronicmedical record card 1 requests biometric authorization to establish thecommunication link between the portable electronic medical record card 1and the hospital Wi-Fi network 6. In step 104, the user scans his/herfinger on the biometric module 14 (see FIG. 1) to authenticate his/heridentity and thereby grant authorization to establish the communicationlink between the portable electronic medical record card 1 and thehospital Wi-Fi network 6. As detailed above, the biometric module 14captures and compares the scanned fingerprint image with a verifiedfingerprint image of the user stored on the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 and returns a pass or fail authentication status based onthe comparison. In step 106, the process 58 determines whether theidentification of the user is authenticated. If the biometric module 14does not authenticate the identity of the user, then the process returnsto step 104 and the user can scan his/her finger on the biometric module14 again.

If the identity of the user is authenticated, then the process proceedsto step 108 where it is determined whether the hospital Wi-Fi network 6login information (e.g., network name and network password) is stored onthe portable electronic medical record card 1. If the hospital Wi-Finetwork 6 login information is not stored on the portable electronicmedical record card 1 then the process proceeds to step 110 where theportable electronic medical record card 1 receives the hospital Wi-Finetwork 6 login information from the remote device 2, and stores thehospital Wi-Fi network 6 information on the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1. If the hospital Wi-Fi network 6 login information isstored on the portable electronic medical record card 1 the processproceeds to step 112 where the process 58 establishes a communicationlink between the portable electronic medical record card 1 and thehospital Wi-Fi network 6 by logging into the hospital Wi-Fi network 6.Once the communication link is established between the portableelectronic medical record card 1 and the hospital Wi-Fi network 6, theprocess 58 proceeds to step 60 to establish the communication link 49 dbetween the portable electronic medical record card 1 and the hospitalEMR server 8.

It is noted that in emergency situations it may be difficult toestablish a communication link between the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 and a medical professional (e.g., a paramedic) providinglife saving emergency care when a user of the portable electronicmedical record card 1 is incapacitated and/or Wi-Fi is unavailable. Insuch a situation, a communication link between the portable electronicmedical record card 1 and the medical professional or an ambulancesystem can be established via NFC or Bluetooth™ communication incombination with biometric authorization.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating Step 60 of FIG. 4 in greater detail.Beginning in step 120, the portable electronic medical record card 1requests biometric authorization to establish the communication link 49d between the portable electronic medical record card 1 and the hospitalEMR server 8. In step 124 the user scans his/her finger on the biometricmodule 14 (see FIG. 1) to authenticate his/her identity and therebygrant authorization to establish the communication link 49 d between theportable electronic medical record card 1 and the hospital EMR server 8.As detailed above, the biometric module 14 captures and compares thescanned fingerprint image with a verified fingerprint image of a userstored on the portable electronic medical record card 1 and returns apass or fail authentication status based on the comparison. In step 126,the process 60 determines whether an identification of the user isauthenticated. If the biometric module 14 does not authenticate theidentity of the user, then the process returns to step 124 and the usercan scan his/her finger on the biometric module 14 again. If theidentity of the user is authenticated, then the process 60 proceeds tostep 128 where the process 60 establishes the communication link 49 dbetween the portable electronic medical record card 1 and the hospitalEMR server 8. Then in step 130, the portable electronic medical recordcard 1 uploads the stored electronic medical record information to thehospital EMR server 8. The process 60 then proceeds to step 62 toestablish the communication link 49 f between the PEMRS cloud-basedserver 7 and the hospital EMR server 8.

Communication between the portable electronic medical record card 1 andthe hospital EMR server 8 can be supported by HTTP and HTTPS whereinFHIR provides an application interface for managing the electronichealth record. For example, FHIR provides a representational statetransfer application program interface (REST API) having a rich butsimple set of interactions including, but not limited to:

-   -   Create=POST https://example.com/path/{resourceType};    -   Read=GET https://example.com/path/{resourceType}/{id};    -   Update=PUT https://example.com/path/{resourceType}/{id};    -   Delete=DELETE https://example.com/path/{resourceType}/{id};    -   Search=GET https://example.com/path/{resourceType}?search        parameters . . . ;    -   History=GET        https://example.com/path/{resourceType}/{id}/_history;    -   Transaction=POST https://example.com/path/(POST a transaction        bundle to the system); and    -   Operation=GET        https://example.com/path/{resourceType}/{id}/${opname}.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating Step 62 of FIG. 4 in greater detail.Beginning in step 140, the portable electronic medical record card 1requests biometric authorization to establish a communication link 49 fbetween the PEMRS cloud-based server 7 and the hospital EMR server 8. Instep 142, the user scans his/her finger on the biometric module 14 (seeFIG. 1) to authenticate his/her identity and thereby grant authorizationto establish the communication link between the PEMRS cloud-based server7 and the hospital EMR server 8. As detailed above, the biometric module14 captures and compares the scanned fingerprint image with a verifiedfingerprint image of the user stored on the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 and returns a pass or fail authentication status based onthe comparison. In step 144, the process 62 determines whether anidentification of the user is authenticated. If the biometric module 14does not authenticate the identity of the user, then the process returnsto step 142 and the user can scan his/her finger on the biometric module14 again. If the identity of the user is authenticated, then the process62 proceeds to step 146 where the process 62 establishes thecommunication link 49 f between the PEMRS cloud-based server 7 and thehospital EMR server 8.

Communication between the PEMRS cloud server 7 and the hospital EMRserver 8 can be supported by HTTP and HTTPS. It is noted that the PEMRScloud-based server 7 and the hospital EMR server 8 may need tocommunicate directly when electronic medical record information storedon the portable electronic medical record card 1 is incomplete and/or ifa medical provider wishes to execute a comprehensive and/or specificsearch of the user's electronic medical record information.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the steps carried out to activate theportable electronic medical record card 1 of the present disclosure.Specifically, the diagram illustrates steps carried out by each of theportable electronic medical record card 1, the remote device 2, and thePEMRS cloud-based server 7 to activate the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 over the Internet 4. As shown in FIG. 11, in step 160 auser receives the portable electronic medical record card 1 andsubsequently charges the portable electronic medical record card 1 instep 162 before powering the portable electronic medical record card 1ON in step 164. In step 166, the user turns on a Wi-Fi personal hotspotfrom the remote device 2, and in step 168 sets the password of the Wi-Fipersonal hotspot to “PEMR.” In step 170, the portable electronic medicalrecord card 1 detects the Wi-Fi personal hotspot. It is noted that step170 can also involve the user pressing the Wi-Fi button and turning theWi-Fi ON. In step 172, the portable electronic medical record card 1establishes a connection with the remote device 2. It is noted that theuser can change the default password “PEMR” after completing theactivation process.

As discussed above, the PEMR Application allows the user to inputinformation to be stored in the memory 24 of the portable electronicmedical record card 1 since the portable electronic medical record card1 does not include a keypad or mechanism to input information. It isnoted that the portable electronic medical record card 1 can connect tothe remote device 2 using DIAL protocol. In step 174, the user downloadsthe PEMRS Application to the remote device 2 and launches the PEMRApplication in step 176.

In step 178, the user enters his/her user information (e.g., user name)via the PEMR Application on the remote device 2. It is noted that aGlobally Unique Identifier (GUID) is stored in the memory 24 of theportable electronic medical record card 1 at the time of shipping. Inaddition, the portable electronic medical record card 1 GUID is alsostored on the PEMRS cloud-based server 7 at the time of shipping. Theuser name and the GUID are used during the activation process toauthenticate the portable electronic medical record card 1. As such, instep 180, the remote device 2 receives the GUID from the memory 24 ofthe portable electronic medical record card 1 and the GUID from thePEMRS cloud-based server 7 and in step 182 determines whether therespective GUIDs match. If the GUIDs do not match, then the processproceeds to step 184 where the activation process displays an errormessage on the remote device 2. If the GUIDs match then the processproceeds to step 186 to capture biometric information from the user. Itis noted that an indicator on the portable electronic medical recordcard 1 can blink to indicate a connection to a cloud account.

In step 186, the user's biometric information (e.g., a fingerprint) iscaptured. For example, the fingerprint of the user can be captured bythe PEMR application on the remote device 2. Specifically, the PEMRapplication captures the scanned fingerprint image, compresses the imagewith a Wavelet Scalar Quantization (WSQ) algorithm, and transforms theimage into a standard template (e.g., ISO 1974-2 or ANSI 378). It isnoted that multiple fingerprint samples, e.g., three, may be capturedwherein the best sample is compressed and transformed into the standardtemplate. If the fingerprint scan is accepted, the light on the portableelectronic medical record card 1 is illuminated a solid green. In steps188 a and 188 b, the fingerprint template is transmitted to the portableelectronic medical record card 1 and the PEMRS cloud-based server 7 forstorage. Finally, in step 190, the portable electronic medical recordcard 1 writes the transmitted fingerprint template to the memory 24.Upon completion of the activation process, the portable electronicmedical record card 1 can wirelessly communicate electronic medicalrecord information stored therein to a plurality of informationtechnology systems. It is noted that the Wi-Fi can enter a sleep stateafter an absence of use (e.g., three minutes). The portable electronicmedical record card 1 can be activated and used in various situationsincluding, but not limited to, initial activation, check-in and checkout during a visit with a medical provider, reviewing personal healthrecords via a website, changing insurance providers and in the event theportable electronic medical record card 1 is lost or stolen.

Having thus described the present disclosure in detail, it is to beunderstood that the foregoing description is not intended to limit thespirit or scope thereof. What is desired to be protected is set forth inthe following claims.

1. A portable electronic medical record card for wirelesslycommunicating electronic medical record information stored on theportable electronic medical record card to a plurality of informationtechnology systems, comprising: a memory storing the electronic medicalrecord information; a biometric module configured to receive a biometricinput from a user; a wireless communication module; and a processor incommunication with the memory, the biometric module, and the wirelesscommunication module, the processor configured to establish wirelesscommunication between the portable electronic medical record card andthe plurality of different information technology systems, wherein thebiometric module: receives the biometric input from the user,authenticates the user's identity based on the received biometric inputfrom the user, and authorizes the processor to establish wirelesscommunication between the portable electronic medical record card andeach of the plurality of information technology systems based on aresult of the authentication, and wherein the wireless communicationmodule: wirelessly communicates the electronic medical recordinformation stored in the memory to each of the plurality of differentinformation technology systems when the user's identity isauthenticated, and receives updated electronic medical information fromeach of the plurality of different information technology systems. 2.The portable electronic medical record card of claim 1, wherein theplurality of information technology systems include a Wi-Fi network, amedical provider data system, and a cloud-based electronic medicalrecord server system.
 3. The portable electronic medical record card ofclaim 1, wherein the biometric module is a fingerprint reader andauthenticates the user's identity by capturing and comparing a scannedfingerprint image of the user with a verified fingerprint image of theuser.
 4. The portable electronic medical record card of claim 1, whereinthe wireless communication module is configured to communicate theelectronic medical record information stored in the memory to theplurality of information technology systems via Wi-Fi, Near FieldCommunication, Bluetooth™ or radio frequency.
 5. The portable electronicmedical record card of claim 1, further comprising an encryption moduleconfigured to encrypt and decrypt the electronic medical recordinformation stored in the memory via at least one of Secure HashAlgorithms (SHA), Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA), Advanced EncryptionStandard (AES), and a Random Number Generator (RNG).
 6. The portableelectronic medical record card of claim 1, further comprising: a powermodule; and a power button, wherein the power module is a rechargeablebattery and the power button provides ON/OFF capability.
 7. The portableelectronic medical record card of claim 1, wherein the memory isprogrammable, and the processor updates the electronic medical recordinformation stored in the memory in response to the wirelesscommunication module receiving the updated electronic medical recordinformation from any of the plurality of different informationtechnology systems.
 8. The portable electronic medical record card ofclaim 1, further comprising at least one connectivity indicatorconfigured to indicate a status of a wireless communication link betweenthe portable electronic medical record card and at least one of theplurality of information technology systems.
 9. A method for wirelesslycommunicating electronic medical record information stored on a portableelectronic medical record card to a plurality of different informationtechnology systems, comprising: establishing wireless communicationbetween the portable electronic medical record card and a firstinformation technology system among the plurality of differentinformation technology systems by receiving a first biometric input froma user, authenticating the user's identity based on the received firstbiometric input from the user, authorizing the processor to establishwireless communication between the portable electronic medical recordcard and the first information technology system among the plurality ofdifferent information technology systems based on a result of theauthenticating, wirelessly communicating the electronic medical recordinformation stored on the portable electronic medical record card to thefirst information technology system among the plurality of differentinformation technology systems when the user's identity isauthenticated, and receiving updated electronic medical information fromthe first information technology system among the plurality of differentinformation technology system; establishing wireless communicationbetween the portable electronic medical record card and a secondinformation technology system among the plurality of differentinformation technology systems by receiving a second biometric inputfrom the user, authenticating the user's identity based on the receivedsecond biometric input from the user, authorizing the processor toestablish wireless communication between the portable electronic medicalrecord card and the second information technology system among theplurality of different information technology systems based on a resultof the authenticating, wirelessly communicating the electronic medicalrecord information stored on the portable electronic medical record cardto the second information technology system among the plurality ofdifferent information technology systems when the user's identity isauthenticated, and receiving updated electronic medical information fromthe second information technology system among the plurality ofdifferent information technology system; and establishing wirelesscommunication between the portable electronic medical record card and athird information technology system among the plurality of differentinformation technology systems by receiving a third biometric input fromthe user, authenticating the user's identity based on the received thirdbiometric input from the user, authorizing the processor to establishwireless communication between the portable electronic medical recordcard and the third information technology system among the plurality ofdifferent information technology systems based on a result of theauthenticating, wirelessly communicating the electronic medical recordinformation stored on the portable electronic medical record card to thethird information technology system among the plurality of differentinformation technology systems when the user's identity isauthenticated, and receiving updated electronic medical information fromthe third information technology system among the plurality of differentinformation technology system.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising encrypting and decrypting the electronic medical recordinformation stored on the portable electronic medical record card via atleast one of Secure Hash Algorithms (SHA), Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA),Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and a Random Number Generator (RNG).11. The method of claim 9, further comprising indicating a status of awireless communication link between the portable electronic medicalrecord card and at least one of the first information technology system,the second information technology system and the third informationtechnology system among the plurality of different informationtechnology systems wherein the first information technology system, thesecond information technology system and the third informationtechnology system include a Wi-Fi network, a medical provider datasystem and a cloud-based electronic medical record server system.
 12. Asystem for wirelessly communicating electronic medical recordinformation, comprising: a first information technology system; and aportable electronic medical record card, the portable electronic medicalrecord card comprising a memory storing the electronic medical recordinformation; a biometric module configured to receive a biometric inputfrom a user; a wireless communication module; and a processor incommunication with the memory, the biometric module, and the wirelesscommunication module, the processor configured to establish wirelesscommunication between the portable electronic medical record card andthe first information technology system and a plurality of secondinformation technology systems, wherein the biometric module: receivesthe biometric input from the user, authenticates the user's identitybased on the received biometric input from the user, and authorizes theprocessor to establish wireless communication between the portableelectronic medical record card and the first information technologysystem and the plurality of second information technology systems basedon a result of the authentication, and wherein the wirelesscommunication module: wirelessly communicates the electronic medicalrecord information stored in the memory to the first informationtechnology system and the plurality of second information technologysystems when the user's identity is authenticated, and receives updatedelectronic medical information from each of the first informationtechnology system and the plurality of second information technologysystems.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor updates theelectronic medical record information stored in the memory in responseto the wireless communication module receiving the updated electronicmedical record information from the first information technology systemor any of the plurality of second information technology systems. 14.The system of claim 12, wherein the first information technology systemand the plurality of second information technology systems include aWi-Fi network, a medical provider data system and a cloud-basedelectronic medical record server system.
 15. The system claim 12,wherein the biometric module is a fingerprint reader and authenticatesthe user's identity by capturing and comparing a scanned fingerprintimage of the user with a verified fingerprint image of the user.
 16. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the wireless communication module isconfigured to communicate the electronic medical record informationstored in the memory to the plurality of information technology systemsvia Wi-Fi, Near Field Communication, Bluetooth™ or radio frequency. 17.The system of claim 12, wherein the portable electronic medical recordcard further comprises an encryption module configured to encrypt anddecrypt the electronic medical record information stored in the memoryvia at least one of Secure Hash Algorithms (SHA), Rivest-Shamir-Adleman(RSA), Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and a Random Number Generator(RNG).
 18. The system of claim 12, wherein the portable electronicmedical record card further comprises a power module and a power button,the power module being a rechargeable battery and the power buttonconfigured to provide ON/OFF capability.
 19. The system of 12, whereinthe memory is programmable.
 20. The system of claim 12, wherein theportable electronic medical record card further comprises at least oneconnectivity indicator configured to indicate a status of a wirelesscommunication link between the portable electronic medical record cardand at least one of the first technology information system and theplurality of second information technology systems.